While the world is debating what to do in Libya, the rebels have been getting technical--here's a look inside two mobile-phone networks created by the Libyan rebels to make calls without pesky surveillance and jamming.
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Feed SubscriptionWhistleblowers Say Nuclear Regulatory Commission Watchdog Is Losing Its Bite
When he retired after 26 years as an investigator with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of the Inspector General, George Mulley thought his final report was one of his best. Mulley had spent months looking into why a pipe carrying cooling water at the Byron nuclear plant in Illinois had rusted so badly that it burst. His report cited lapses by a parade of NRC inspectors over six years and systemic weaknesses in the way the NRC monitors corrosion.
Read More »Weekly Highlights #3 – UCSC students
Today I am checking on some recent work by sci-comm students at University of California – Santa Cruz: Donna Hesterman: Research Highlight: An Imperfect Storm: Imagine a world with no storms.
Read More »China Tackles Energy-Wasting Buildings
SHANGHAI -- For Jin Liang, a typical Chinese who watches his utility bills carefully, each scorching hot summer day posed a dilemma: Should he switch on his air conditioner, or keep it off to cool the impact on his wallet? But his dilemma faded away this year after Jin moved into a new apartment. It features magical materials that allow him to comfortably turn off the air conditioner and yet stop sweating
Read More »The Miracle of Birth is that Most of Us Figure Out How to Mother–More or Less
When my first child was born, I was very happy, as many moms are, but also a little on edge. [More]
Read More »It’s Dim Up North, So People Need Bigger Brains
LONDON (Reuters) - People from northern parts of the world have evolved bigger brains and larger eyes to help them to cope with long, dark winters and dim skies, scientists said on Wednesday. Researchers from Oxford University studied the eye sockets and brain capacity of 55 human skulls from 12 different populations across the world and found that the further human populations live from the equator, the bigger their brains. [More]
Read More »Is Planning Bad for Business?
A young entrepreneur presents a few disruptive strategies to help grow your business. Her message: Stop planning. Its useless
Read More »Hospitals Try To Become Mickey Mouse Institutions
Hospitals might not always be the happiest places on Earth. But some might get a little happier, with help from Disney. [More]
Read More »Environmentalists, Government Debate Wolf in Court
By Lori Grannis MISSOULA, Montana (Reuters) - Environmentalists went to federal court on Tuesday seeking to restore endangered species safeguards for some 1,200 gray wolves in Montana and Idaho removed from protection by an unprecedented act of Congress. [More]
Read More »U.S. cities face water-related climate change dangers: study
By Lauren Keiper BOSTON (Reuters) - Rising sea waters may threaten U.S. coastal cities later this century, while the Midwest and East Coast are at high risk for intense storms, and the West could see compromised water supplies
Read More »African land grab threatens food security: study
By Christine Stebbins CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rich countries grabbing farmland in Africa to feed their growing populations can leave rural populations there without land or jobs and make the continent's hunger problem more severe, an environmental think tank said on Tuesday. [More]
Read More »U.S. officials make major haul of elephant ivory
By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal officials seized roughly a ton of ivory in one of the largest U.S. seizures on record and arrested the owner of an African art store accused of smuggling carved elephant tusks into the United States, authorities said on Tuesday
Read More »Water from a Saturnian Moon Rains Down on the Ringed Planet
Enceladus, a small satellite of Saturn, has captivated planetary scientists for years with its watery polar geysers and ridgelike surface features known as "tiger stripes." Now it has a new layer of intrigue. The gas and ice escaping from Enceladus and shooting out from the moon's south pole in towering jets, which fill Saturn's diffuse E ring, also seem to rain down on Saturn itself, providing water vapor to the giant planet's upper atmosphere
Read More »Preschool Kids Spontaneously Employ the Scientific Method
By Chloe McIvor of Nature magazine Preschool children spontaneously invent experiments in their play, according to research published this month in Cognition. The findings suggest that basic scientific principles help very young brains to learn about the world. Psychologists have been drawing a comparison between cognitive development and science for years -- an idea referred to as 'the child as scientist'
Read More »Fundamental Physical Constants Get Updated Values
By Eugenie Samuel Reich of Nature magazine As cheat sheets go, it is a long one. [More]
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